Search queries are often issued by a user to a search engine. The search query may contain search terms that define information or other web sites that the user is seeking. Search queries may generally be classified as falling into one of two broad categories: discovery queries and task-oriented queries.
Discovery queries are issued by a user seeking information about a topic. Search results are then generated by the search engine according to one or more algorithms. Discovery queries are further characterized by the user seeking information from any source, and not any particular web site. For instance, a search query containing the element “Seattle” would be recognized as a discovery query. Multiple links to URLs may be generated by the search engine as a set of search results. Often a user may browse the search results and select results presented throughout the set of search results. Users may also select one link in the search result set and view the corresponding web site, only to discover that site did not provide the information they were seeking. The users may then return to the set of search results and select a link presented farther down in the list of search results.
Task-oriented queries are those issued by a user seeking to accomplish a particular task. Such queries may be navigational, categorical, or otherwise related to a particular task. Navigational queries are those issued by a user seeking to navigate to a specific web site. For instance, a search query of “Microsoft” represents a navigational query, as the user is likely seeking to navigate to the web site of the Microsoft Corporation, based in Redmond, Wash. Under most algorithms employed by search engines, a link to the URL of http://www.microsoft.com would be displayed as the first search result. Categorical queries are those issued by a user seeking information about a particular category of information. For instance, a search query of any of “world news” or “buy books online” or “rental cars” represents a categorical query, as the user is likely seeking to peruse multiple sources of information about the queried item. Under most algorithms employed by search engines, links to a plurality of URLs, each representative of the information category, would be displayed as search results.